June 23, 2017

As I was saying…

Ervin Santana did just enough to win, Jose Berrios was sensational and… well, Nik Turley was awful on Thursday after the Twins were blanked by the Chicago White Sox, 9-0. The Twins still won the series but a sweep would have been nice before they hit the road to play Cleveland, Boston and the much-improved Kansas City Royals.

Turley was so bad that he was sent back to the minors after the game. He lasted two-thirds of an inning and gave up five runs, all earned, on six hits, including two home runs. He departs with an ERA of 16.39. The beat goes on as the Twins try to find that reliable third, fourth and fifth starter.

Adalberto Mejia gets the ball on Friday.

Extra innings…

-Once again the pitching was so bad Thursday that backup catcher Chris Gimenez made his sixth relief appearance this year. He gave up two hits in a scoreless 9th inning.

-Jose Berrios was terrific on Wednesday. He went eight innings and struck out eight to improve to 7-1 with a 2.67 ERA. He appears to be fast on his way to becoming a No. 1 starter.

-The Twins have signed pitcher Dillon Gee to a minor league contract. Gee spent six seasons with the New York Mets. He won 13 games in 2011 and 12 in 2013. He’s 48-46 with a 4.13 ERA over his career.

-Thursday’s game featured the longest rain delay in Twins history at nearly five hours.

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone and I love the Twins.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.